SPE BLOG

Sweet Potatoes - Not Just for Baking!

While reading about the latest food trends, I stumbled upon the new sweet potato toast. I decided to sample a few different versions to see what they were all about.

I quickly found that the ways to top sweet potato toast are pretty limitless – everything from sweet to savory has been tried. For this evaluation, I tasted four different variations. I found that I was able to cut about 4 slices from each sweet potato, and the analysis for each version reflects one slice with toppings:

Avocado with Sunflower Seeds and Sea Salt

Calories: 80

Fat: 4g

Saturated Fat: 1g

Sodium: 160mg

Carbohydrates: 10g

Fiber: 3g

Sugar: 2g

Protein: 1g

Mashed Banana with Chopped Walnuts and Dark Chocolate

Calories: 150

Fat: 7g

Saturated Fat: 2g

Sodium: 20mg

Carbohydrates: 22g

Fiber: 4g

Sugar: 10g

Protein: 3g

Pesto with a Fried Egg

Calories: 175

Fat: 12g

Saturated Fat: 3g

Sodium: 300mg

Carbohydrates: 9g

Fiber: 2g

Sugar: 3g

Protein: 8g

Peanut Butter with Sliced Banana and Cinnamon

Calories: 210

Fat: 12g

Saturated Fat: 3g

Sodium: 20g

Carbohydrates: 22g

Fiber: 4g

Sugar: 10g

Protein: 7g

After trying them all, I found that the toppings masked the taste of the sweet potatoes but they of course didn’t taste like a piece of toast either. Having never put a slice of sweet potato in a toaster, I didn't know what texture to expect and was happy to find the toasted sweet potatoes were somewhere between raw and soft from baking. I toasted mine through two rounds in the toaster, and you could adjust for more or less depending on your preference.

Nutritionally speaking if you compare the sweet potato with whole wheat toast, both whole wheat bread and sweet potatoes have a variety of vitamins and minerals. The sweet potato may be slightly less caloric (it depends on the size of the potato) and would have less protein and fiber. But in its favor, it would also have less sodium and more potassium than the toast. It's tough to pick a winner. But if you are trying to avoid refined grains, or on a gluten-free or paleo diet, this could be a creative way to eat "toast."